Thoughts on Polygamy

Assalamu alaikum, there have been 2 recent posts (here and another related one here) on the topic of polygamy and sisters’ distress regarding this issue. And of course, along with kids in the masjid and moon sighting/fighting, polygamy seems to be one more topic that Muslims just can’t resist discussing. And so I’m going to do my best to add my two cents to the maylay.

When reading the comments in reaction to the article, a few things bother me about some of the brothers’ reactions, in particular. The first being the idea that polygamy is a Sunnah and so the sisters should just get over it already. I don’t think that any sister is questioning the “Sunnah-ality” and thus the legitimacy of the practice, but merely how the brothers go about “practicing” said Sunnah, and how they discuss said Sunnah with their other male counterparts. If it’s such a “good” Sunnah, such a high ideal, then maybe the first thing to do would be for brothers to treat it with the maturity and deference that attempting to follow/practice something the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself practiced and approved of deserves. And not the high-school-ish behavior that the author of the original article alludes to. Secondly, I’m once again seeing the “sissters just don’t wanna” theme again. The idea that sisters are just too proud, or too emotional, or too Westernized, to accept something that God has allowed, and whether I see this when talking about abuse in our communities (and again many times sisters’ complaints are couched in terms of how they’re not following the Sunnah enough or how they’re just a bunch of whiners and complainers, among many other things) or when discussing this current topic, again, the blame is placed solely on women. Never mind that perhaps many brothers are desirous of polygamy when they really shouldn’t be, or that perhaps they’re not even treating the one wife they have right, and yet and still they want another one, or two, or three. No, once again, it’s the sisters who have to get a grip, follow what God has ordained, accept the Sunnah, and keep their mouths shut. And another thing that bothered me was how the monogamous nature of the marriage of Khadijah and the Prophet (pbuh) was brushed off in the following statement of “The Prophet (Sallaahu alayhi wa Sallam) prayed towards Masjid al-Aqsa during the early years of prophethood, now are we to follow that particular sunnah as well? Did you ever pause and think that perhaps the verse for taking more than one wife was revealed yet since the Prophet (Sallaahu alayhi wa sallam) was married to Khadeejah during the Makkan period and most of the ahkaam were revealed in the Madinan period.

We have to look at what was the last thing that the Prophet (sallaahu alayhi wa sallam) did and died upon and made it an example for his ummah. If you agree that polygyny is a sunnah why are you discouraging it with your words, albeit indirectly. If the brothers can fulfill the conditions for polygyny and have the need for a second wife, let them be.”

But there in lies the problem… Brothers are practicing polygamy who are *not* fulfilling those conditions, and it’s also mind-boggling to me that those who are against the “have to obey the law of the land” opinion, could even think that an Islamic marriage and a legal marriage are even equal, especially in a place like the US, where a purely religious marriage isn’t recognized? And I love it when the brothers talk about marrying Islamically, and alluding to the fact that a woman/women in said purely Islamic marriage would have their rights upheld? In whose community pray tell, ’cause I’d sure like to know? Anyone who thinks this way, IMHO, and very humble opinion, is really dreaming and not living in reality! I mean, tell that to an Islamically-married woman, who’s being abused, who can’t get an “Islamic divorce” because her abusive husband won’t give it to her. Heck, let’s be honest, most men (and women too) in the community wouldn’t even support her, they’d tell her to stay, make dua, and maybe if she was a good enough of a wife that she’d not be being abused in the first place, and there’s no “Islamic judge” in any community that I’m aware of in the US anyway that would give her a divorce and you think an abusive spouse would relinquish control by voluntarily giving his wife a divorce? You’ve got to be kidding me! And she can’t go to the legal courts because her “marriage” was never legally solemnized. Or, while we’re on the subject, the woman in a polygamous marriage who can’t get health insurance from her husband’s job, either for herself or the kids, or who has no say in matters if he dies (but the legally recognized wife does), and all of the other legal ramifications that can result for a man who has a legally married and an “Islamically” married wife/wives. And all of this “oh they can be against polygamy but be OK with mistresses” stuff, is just an excuse/cover-up! And again IMHO an attempt for many brothers in favor of and actively pushing polygamy, to ignore the realities staring them in the face and who many times are also telling the sisters (and brothers too) who have misgivings not about the practice itself but how it’s being practiced that you’re ignoring a Sunnah, that you’re discouraging it, etc., when all we are merely saying is that there could be problems with the practice if it’s not done correctly and that many times brothers do not handle it in a mature way. Methinks he only way a polygamous marriage in this country could even start to be truly equal would be to have all marriages “islamically married”, i.e., have none of them legally registered, because if one marriage is legal and the rest aren’t, the condition of equality that is required in polygamous unions would not be fulfilled from the get-go, and the fact that some are actively pushing the “one wife legal and the rest not” option is worrying to me, to say the least.

The defensiveness from those pushing polygamy and the accusations of “not being Sunnah enough” or trying to override God’s commandments, etc., when all that is being done is to bring out an issue/problem in the community is truly upsetting and dare I say angering to me. And I love it when people compare apples and oranges (i.e. the Prophet’s marriage to Khadija vs the direction of prayer) to try to defend their position. So are we saying that the Prophet’s marriage to Khadija doesn’t or shouldn’t mean anything because of the time in his life that it occurred, or because it wasn’t what he “died upon”. How very convenient, and I wasn’t aware that this was a fiqhi principle. I had thought that the Prophet’s (pbuh) whole life was supposed to be an example to all mankind, not just the polygamous part of it, or the things he “died upon”, but perhaps I was wrong somewhere. And that is what bothers me that “The Sunnah” for someone is whatever they want it to be, whatever suits their fancy. They can talk about “The Sunnah” of polygamy yet apologize and enable the brother who conveniently forgets the Sunnah of the fact that the Prophet (pbuh) never hit any of his wives. Would people be so quick to brush off the marriage of Khadija if the events were reversed and it took place later on in his life and he “died upon it”? Would brothers be so willing to brush off the polygamous marriages if they weren’t “something that the Prophet died upon”? My guess is probably not, they’d still find some way to argue how polygamy is still the Sunnah, even if it wasn’t something the prophet “died upon”.

Because the truth of the matter is that for many men who either are practicing polygamy or who are desiring to, it ain’t about the Sunnah, although it’s sure a convenient excuse/reason. And we all know the “real” reason many men want a second, third, or fourth wife, and it’s sure not about taking care of widows, orphans or children either. And maybe that’s why many women are so upset about the issue, and it’s not ’cause we’re “Westernized” and have silly notions in our heads that a husband of ours might or should love us and desire us and care for us, or that perhaps, even if the fiqh says he doesn’t, that maybe if he wanted a second wife, that he’d love us and respect us enough to actually tell us and we wouldn’t have to find out through the community grapevine or some other third party that he’d gone and gotten himself a younger, prettier wife. Because while some brothers can go around crowing about how good polygamy is because “those kafirs have mistresses” the way many brothers go about practicing polygamy, they are acting just like the non-Muslims they are so quick to ridicule right down to the secrecy, the creeping, all of it, that it becomes hard to tell the difference as to whether or not they’re getting a second (or fourth) wife or a mistress. Heck, the way they act about it and joke about it, that’s what they might as well be doing. So while brothers can admonish the sisters on “following the Sunnah” etc., brothers could also start by not treating polygamy like it’s some halal way to get their creep on. And then maybe the sisters wouldn’t get so upset about it. Because unlike the brothers who not only have the right to multiple wives but the right to unconditional divorce, and both of those things pretty much whenever they want to, if they so choose, sisters have neither of these options, so brothers really need to be careful how they handle and deal with not only the polygamy issue but the divorce issue as well, which is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish.

Article on Blindness Research from the New York Times

from the NYT

My husband told me about this article, very interesting, though not sure if it would help those of us who’ve been blind all of our lives or with conditions like retinopathy of prematurity, which is my primary eye condition.

WMNF 88.5 FM Community Radio, Tampa

Assalamu alaikum, there seem to be some interesting shows on this station, the “True Talk” show being the most interesting for me, described as an “Arab Muslim” talk show? Hmmm, are we talking about “arab and Muslim” or just “Arab Muslims” What about American Muslims, or African Muslims, etc.? Will have to listen to see what the show is about. Sorry, but I get kinda sensitive when “other” Muslims besides Arabs seemingly get left out of the picture.

WMNF 88.5 FM Community Radio, Tampa.

Adendum to Most Recent Moon Sighting Post

Assalamu alaikum, again, I know I’m in danger of straying into “beating dead horse” territory, but… I can’t help myself. Consider this an ongoing blog topic, i.e., moonsighting. Also, I’d like to continue my moon bits series, which I started last year, because as I’m thinking about it, it’s made a lot of things clear for me. Most notably that there seem to be many equally valid opinions regarding this issue, and I’m starting to really not like that “you’re doing it on the wrong day” stuff or “you’re backward if you don’t follow our (read scientific and modern and thus well *not* backward) opinion” either. Anyway, I hate to keep picking on IslamicMoon.com, but pick I must, because however much I disagree with moonsighting.com’s seeming swipe at Shaykh Hamza, at least they still post moonsighting reports, and have acknowledged that there are differing criteria for determining the start/end of the months. I have to give them that much, I mean, they could have just stopped taking moonsighting reports altogether or something. But anyway… Just as I figured, IslamicMoon.com has the “Muslims celebrated the Eid on the wrong day”, etc., mantra again. And while their opinion is a valid one, and I can definitely understand their position, and in many cases in the past, I’ve actually agreed with it, I really think they’ve gone a bit too far… Read on… And btw, I had thought about posting this as an update to my, what was supposed to be, “last” post on this issue, however, I thought it was too long for an update and thus deserved its own post. And so here goes…

Special Report – Sunday Eid

Sunday Eid – Pragmatist Muslims Discard Sunnah and Qur’an’s Ahillah

Pragmatist Muslims? What does that mean? Is being a “pragmatist Muslim” somehow a bad thing? *scratches head*

A lot of Muslims in N. America celebrated Eid al-Fitr on Sunday, September 19, 2009 despite CFCO warning that Sunday Eid will result in missing the last day of Ramadan fast.

Again, missing the last day of fasting according to whom? We’re talking about one opinion, i.e., sighting within a given regional area/country, etc., which is valid, however, so is the opinion that one sighting in the world is also just as equally valid, and as, at least in the case of this year, a moon was actually reliably and verifiably seen in many places in the world on Saturday 09/19/2009, I, unknowledgeable layperson that I am, maintain that Sunday was a perfectly OK day to celebrate the Eid. And that those of us who celebrated on said day did not “miss a day of Ramadan fast”. And you can’t talk about how longitudes, latitudes, national boundaries, etc., don’t mean anything when talking about why you don’t agree with a global Islamic calendar, yet insist on said boundaries when you’re talking about why one group includes the Caribbean/South America, yet you want to only include North America. As I’ve stated before, some parts of the Caribbean, as well as parts of Central and South America, are quite close to the US, in fact, they are closer to those parts of the US, like Texas, Florida, and California, than many other US states and Canada. I’m just saying you can’t have it both ways, saying that longitudes/latitudes, etc., mean nothing, yet use the same things that you decry as “meaningless” to prop up your own theory/opinion.

1. Greenwich Observatory map showed Shawwal Hilal will not be seen in all of the US and Canada

Right, but what about Mexico? I’d still like to know why they are excluded?

2. Astronomical experts: Seeing Shawwal Hilal in N. America was not possible

“Hilaal was very difficult to find and to see (by 8C telescope). Four other observers were not able to focus the image out of the haze… I do not believe that the crescent could have been seen with the unaided eye anywhere in North America.”

Observer(s): Jim Stamm E-mail Address: StammJim@gmail.com

3. Muslim observers mistake anything for Hilal

Several Muslim Imams, Ulema and lay observers reported seeing something like a “bright ½ moon” BEFORE, at, or immediately after sunset and mistook it for Shawwal Hilal. They do not realize that a Hilal is NOT SEEN before, at or immediately after the sunset because the lower sky is very bright, and also a moon is not seen 5-6 minutes before the moon-set time.

Imam X (and another person with him) saw a moon by naked eye at moon-set time.

Alim X (and two with him) saw a moon BEFORE and AT sunset.

A couple saw a moon within first five minutes AFTER the sunset for ½ minute.

Two observers in northern California saw a moon exactly sunset for four minutes

“i scanned it with the binoculars and it was clearly the hilal. I then pointed to it and br. AbdulBasit saw it with his naked eyes and I also could still see it without the binoculars for an entire minute before it again hid behind the clouds. We also had a group of kids from the masjid who saw it. The time was 7:24 PM according to my watch but actually my watch turned out to be 2 minutes faster then satelite time so it was 7:22 PM.

4. Muslim observers confirm “No sighting on Sat. Sep. 19 evening

Hundreds of experienced Muslim observers from all over North America confirmed not seeing any Hilal though they waited from 10 minutes BEFORE the sunset to 30 minutes after the sunset.

Again, as I mentioned before, I’ll leave it to the astronomers/experts to quibble about whether or not a moon could or couldn’t be seen in North America…

5. Shari’ah Boards add South America Sighting for US and Canada

Toronto Hilal Committee earlier and Shari’ah Borads of Chicago, New York added declare sighting in Caribbean as valid for US and Canada

And what’s wrong with that? For many of us, a sighting in those places would be perfectly acceptable, and again, if longitudes/latitudes/boundaries supposedly don’t mean anything when trying to calculate a global Hijri calendar (something this site seemingly doesn’t think can be done/doesn’t agree with), then why should it matter if one group or another decides, for whatever reason, and also based on sound Islamic jurisprudence, to extend the sighting parameters past the currently defined geographical boarders of the US and Canada?

6. Iran Marja’ declares a moon seen by telescope in daylight as valid.

ICOP member Mr. Alireza Mehrani said: “The crescent of Ramadan has been observed on Friday, August 21, 2009, at 10:30 am LT (06:00 UT) by 5 person of Iranian observers under the supervision of Mr. Mohsen Sharifi with the 14″ telescope (from 10:30 to 12:00 LT).

And again, I’m not sure about Shia fiqh (if that’s the proper terminology) but this may also indeed be a perfectly acceptable opinion, so what’s the problem?

7. ICOP coordinator Br. Odeh

“Today Saturday 19 September 2009, it was my first trial to observe the crescent from Amman-Jordan using the new CCD technique. I saw it today at 12 noon time. The shape was verified with astronomical software, and the crescent was exactly as we photographed it.

Note: The crescent was not seen by naked eye and it was NOT seen by telescope! It was only seen by CCD imaging after image processing.”

And while IslamicMoon may have a point here, again, I’ll leave this “ccd imaging” stuff up to the astronomers/ulama to haggle over, as to whether it is an acceptable form of “moon sighting” or not, though to my mind, I’d venture to say no, and I myself wouldn’t follow it, should it become standard operating procedure by any Muslim organization in the future.

8. False sighting announcements

Saturday, September 19, 2009 3:03 PM Subject:: Moon Sighted :: Eid is Tomorrow ::

Official Decision and Announcement of the High Judiciary Council of Saudi Arabia…

Fatwa-Online was informed of the official decision and announcement of the High Judiciary Council of Saudi Arabia that since the moon of Shawwaal was sighted this evening, here in Saudi Arabia,

Had the moon not been able to be seen anywhere in the world, as has happened in many years past, I might have been more vocal about this year’s Saudi decision, and again, I think we can argue until we’re blue in the face about whether or not a moon could be sighted, whether in Saudi or the US. However, as I don’t normally follow Saudi moon sightings anyway, and also as there were confirmed moon sightings closer to me that I could follow, I just didn’t pay that much attention to Saudi’s moon sighting announcements this year. However, they do seem to be in line with ISNA’s/Ummul Qura’s calculations at least for this year anyway, and as I’ve said before, I find this interesting as to why this is the case.

My main point is this… I respect what IslamicMoon and others are trying to do in educating the Muslims about the issue of moon sighting, I really do, and I agree with much of what they’re saying, to a point. Yes, their opinion is valid, but so are other opinions, and I really don’t like this “our opinion is right/the only one and if you’re community is doing something different than us then you’re doing things on the wrong day” spin.

And I don’t necessarily disagree with using national boundaries for determining moon sighting criteria. However, there is also more than one acceptable way to go about this, whether it’s going with a sighting in the contiguous US only, or choosing to include Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean in your sighting parameters as well. It’s the saying that others are wrong, even when what they’re doing may indeed be perfectly acceptable. it’s the saying that Muslims are missing the last day of Ramadan, or fasting on the last day of Sha’ban, and thereby saying that in so missing the last day of Ramadan, that they owe not just a make-up fast for the day missed but an expiation fast of 60 days? I just think that’s going way too far. Especially when there are varying opinions, depending on what fiqh you’re following, regarding this issue. And it’s one thing to warn Muslims about following moon sighting announcements for a moon that almost everyone says can’t be seen, for example, but to say that Muslims are wrong for doing Eid/starting Ramadan on a certain day when the moon was, indeed, actually sighted, from many places that are close enough to the US that many of us could reasonably follow those sightings? This is what I have a problem with, lol, or I should say, this is what bothers me, because saying that I have a problem with something makes me check myself and remind myself that there’s a lot I don’t know. I should say, based on what I’ve read from those who do know, etc. But anyway, I know I’ve said much of this before, and I’m certain I’ve strayed too far into “dead horse” territory than I’d intended to, so I’ll end this here. In closing, though, I understand IslamicMoon’s position, and they’re not necessarily wrong, I just wish they’d use more adab, write more clearly and state exactly what they’re trying to say (still scratching my head over the pragmatist Muslims thing), and make allowance for the fact that there are equally valid fiqhi opinions other than what they are choosing to follow, and that they’re opinion isn’t necessarily the “only” one.

Movie Trailers to “Knowing” and “Push”

Assalamu alaikum, an adendum to yesterday’s post, movie trailers to both Push and Knowing. The Knowing trailer is actually two trailers back to back, as the first trailer I found wasn’t the one I saw this past weekend with the EAS sound. And while I’m at it, I also found the movie trailer for the upcoming movie “2012″, which btw, has Danny Glover playing the President, per the Wikipedia article regarding the movie, which is almost reason enough to see the movie lol.

Back Home and Back to Regular Blogging Inshallah

Assalamu alaikum, I arrived back home earlier this evening from my trip to Tennessee to visit my family. I had a very nice time and Inshallah will return to work tomorrow. Am currently doing research on the whole 2012 thing (about the Mayan calendar which ends 12/21/2012) and kinda putting a Muslim spin on it, which to me pretty much is that Allah alone knows when the world will end, however, I saw a movie this weekend, called Push, which was, well, weird, and very confusing to a blind person to watch.

Also, I saw the movie trailer to “Knowing” and I still have the Emergency Alert System tones running in my head and the “This is Not a Test” voiceover, sure doesn’t wanna make me go to bed any time soon lol.

It’s kinda like when I was younger and would watch a movie or program that would scare me and then I’d be afraid to walk around the house late at night or something. Well, for some reasone, same thing here, but when you see a trailer about an end-of-world movie, and watch a movie about people with extraordinary psychic powers (the most amazing to me being the man who yells real loud and things start breaking/exploding and said yelling causes horrific internal bodily injury), well what can you say?

Perhaps ti’s time to recapture that Ramadan spirit and listen to the Qur’an or something. Because I really hate admitting being spooked/scared about things like, well, end-of-world movies, and NOAA/EAS attention signals (whether real or fake) repeatedly saying “This is Not a Test”.

I mentioned to my husband earlier that the emergency broadcast system sound used to scare me as a child (that and this weird sound that Channel 16 out of South Bend Indiana made just before their news broadcasts) I mean, that sound used to scare me so badly that the mere threat of it would send me running in terror off into the other room. I wish I knew why the mere sound of things scares me so much. it still does, though as an adult I can handle it better.

It reminds me of a dream I actually had a few months ago. I was here in the house and watching TV, and they came on the news and said that nuclear missiles were on the way and that they were actually tracking them on radar. I called my husband and he said he was on his way but I was terrified that he’d not make it home in time and I was thinking that though I probably wouldn’t live that I knew I didn’t want to be by myself. And then I was running around my house, trying to find some place to hide and realizing there wasn’t any, as pretty much every room has windows or is on an outside wall. And then I just started making dua, and I think I woke up. And it was funny because I went from fear to acceptance to some kind of consolation or something. And then I woke up and the BBC World Service was playing on the sattelite radio in my room, and I just took a deep breath and went back to sleep.

Anyway, I feel like admitting to being scared about something, especially things as crazy as what I’ve outlined above, is something that grown people or mature people just shouldn’t do. We’re supposed to be strong, we’re supposed to know what to do. But I often think to myself, what would I do if, say, a nuclear weapon were headed my way, or a solar flare was about to engulf the planet or a huge asteroid were about to hit, I mean, something that you were almost certain that you were going to die and you couldn’t just run from it. I often ask myself, what would I do? How would I act? Would I run around like a maniac or calmly start praying, making dua, or something like that.

And anyway, I actually didn’t mean to launch into my post yet lol, but I guess I did. And I’m usually not this morbid, unless of course I watch a disaster movie lol. And then follow that up with a 20 hour bus trip home. Anyway, I’d like to try to revisit this theme, if only to try to put my spin, now as a Musli on it, because my outlook on these sorts of things has changed, I think, since I became a Muslim, though I’ve not really been able to pinpoint how. Perhaps it’s something along the lines of having certainty of faith or something like that.

Today’s Track

Today’s track is Whitney Houston – I Didn’t Know My Own Strength (it’s a dance mix version). I heard this a while back now, maybe a couple weeks or so ago, can’t remember now. I really like this mix, and I’m really feeling the album, in general, even the “Like I Never Left” song which at first I didn’t like.

The embed link either isn’t working or isn’t accessible to Jaws so if it’s not appearing the URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl4quGNUFA0

Last Words/Thoughts on Moon Bits for Shawwal, Inshallah

Assalamu alaikum, I know I’m risking straying into “beating a dead horse” territory, but I’m about to leave on a road trip in a few hours, Inshallah, so hopefully this will be my last words on the subject of “moon bits for Shawwal”.

Firstly, I wanted to point out that CrescentWatch.org, IslamicMoon.com, and HilalSighting.org are going with a Monday Eid. So Alhamdulillah and Eid Mubarak. But I also have to say that unlike in years past when many masajid went with an Eid that was a day before CrescentWatch, et al., I won’t be among those ranting and raving about how “wrong” of a decision it was. Why? Because unlike in years past, the moon was actually sighted, in regions close enough to the US, that I felt comfortable following them, and thus having my Eid with the community, and I really think that that’s something to be considered, if you are living in a community that follows/uses different criteria than CrescentWatch, IslamicMoon, HilalSighting, etc., because I really think a united community means something, and we’re not talking about following a sighting from halfway around the world or a sighting that pretty much every astronomer agrees is not possible. I’m saying that if you follow a moon sighting that is in your own region, even if it’s not necessarily the US or North America even, if following said sighting means that you get to have Eid with your community and you don’t have to go it alone, I really think there’s something to be said for that and following that decision can’t be a bad thing, I’d not think.

And why not include Central and South America in your sighting parameters? Why only Canada? I mean, if you’re in southern Texas, you’re pretty darn close to Mexico and pretty far away from Canada. So why Canada but not Mexico? And/or why not the Caribbean? As I’ve said before, many parts of Florida, per their populations, are culturally linked to the Caribbean, not to mention the fact that distancewise, we’re a whole lot closer to the Caribbean, as well as parts of Central and South America, than we are to Canada.

When I read the “no sightings in mainland North America” quote, I wonder, are they including Mexico in this? Or is Mexico considered “Central” America? Which is really part of North America anyway isn’t it? Well, according to the Wikipedia article North and Central America are the same landmass, Central America connecting to South America. And Mexico is considered to be part of North America. So why is Canada included in the moon sighting criteria and not Mexico? Or is Mexico included and I’m not aware?

My whole point in bringing all of this up is to say that if we’re talking about a moon that can actually be seen and was sighted, then if people went with a Sunday Eid, based on moon sighting and not on calculation, and for the sake of unity, then there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with that, Inshallah. Especially if you’re taking sightings close to but not including the US. Now, I’m not saying whether or not the moon was sighted here in the US, whether any sighting claims should be rejected or accepted. I’ll leave that to the astronomers to haggle over. But as a layperson, who only dabbles in the issue of moon sighting and astronomy, I felt comfortable celebrating Eid yesterday, based on the fact that the moon was sighted in Guyana, which is closer to me than many parts of the US and Canada are. And I’m not going to reject a Sunday Eid just because some masajid and organizations happen to have already pre-declared it months in advance.

The thing is, until we in the US have a unified criteria for determining the start and end of Islamic months, then some of us will have differing start and end dates for our Eids and Ramadan. And I have to say that that unification is a long time coming, because we can’t even agree on what sighting parameters are acceptable, whether we include Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, whether we just stick to our own city, geographical region, or country, whether we use naked eye sighting, or sighting with binoculars/other optical aid, or use calculation only. So given all of the varying criteria in use here, it’s no wonder there is confusion and doubt and differing days depending on where you are. I like the UK’s idea of adopting the “easterly sighting” rule. I’d be interested to know what is the fiqhi basis for this rule, is it a recent ruling or is this ruling something found in classical texts, because that distinction might be important for some. The criteria that I follow, that a sighting can’t be followed if it’s beyond a certain distance (the most common one I’ve been given is around 4,000 miles), comes from Maliki fiqh, if I’m not mistaken, what do the other madhahib have to say? Is there any way, even though I’m almost sure this has been tried before, that the various moon sighting groups and committees couldn’t come together, come up with criteria that everyone could agree on, even if they have to compromise on global vs local, or how close or far the sighting parameters should be, etc. Because it would sure be nice if we had an authority on this matter, who made this decision, although as I’m writing this, it occurs to me that many masajid and organizations still wouldn’t follow it, and we’d be right back to the same place we are now. *sigh*

Anyway, I’m rambling anyway… So will go ahead and end this post. But I just wanted to say that unlike previous years, if people celebrated the Eid yesterday, I’m not going to say that they’re wrong, I mean, I was among the ones celebrating. And I’d not say that if anyone celebrated today that they were wrong either. Because at this rate, there are so many differing criteria out there, that any of these days could have been the right day. And not only this, some people don’t even come online and look at all of this information. They just do whatever the local masjid is doing, and I have to say that that’s OK too. This issue has just become so fraught with confusion and convolution that Inshallah, Allah will accept our fasting, prayers, acts of charity, etc., whenever it was that we started and ended.

Test Recording Using My Sansa E260 mp3 player

from myAudio Scrapbook.

*Updated* Moon Bits for Shawwal / Eidul Fitr

Assalamu alaikum, so far from
MoonSighting.com’s Shawwal page:

Muhammad H Zulqarnain (MCW member) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia reported: Eid Announced
Eid announced in Saudi Arabia for Sunday 20 Sept. Hearty Eid Greetings to you all.

Some one from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia reported: Eid Announced
“By the Command of His Majesty the King after being consented by ALL the Rulers [9 sultans], I hereby proclaim the Eid ul-fitri to be tomorrow on Sunday 20th September, 2009.”

Hmmm, was IslamicMoon.com right after all? They mentioned that Saudi had already declared the start of Shawwal/Eidul Fitr to be on Sunday (and I’d still like verification of this, as I find this to be a very interesting development), 09/20/2009. However, at least the moon was/or could be sighted at least somewhere in the world, and we don’t have what we’ve had in years past where the moon just couldn’t be seen anywhere, yet Eid was declared. So Alhamdulillah, even if they are not using sighting anymore and are going on calculations, perhaps it is still a step in the right direction, in that the moon at least can be seen somewhere in the world, and maybe they’re following “global sighting”? Allahu Alim.

Anyway, am going to keep updating this page as the day/evening goes on, putting the updates at the bottom, so scroll down, Inshallah, as more info becomes available and I can post it. Right now, as it stands the only moon sighting reports that I’ve seen so far have come out of Australia, everything else has either been following Saudi, or have been negative reports. So Inshallah, try to check back often, as I’m not sure if my RSS feed will repost the same post if it’s updated or not. Eid Mubarak to those celebrating tomorrow. I’m sure my masjid will be doing so, but I await more positive sighting reports closer to home Inshallah.

*Update 1: As Yusuf has pointed out in the comments, there have been moon sightings in South Africa, and per MoonSighting.com, a sighting in Mauritius with binoculars only. BTW, can a moon be sighted during the daytime? (IslamicMoon per my reading seems to suggest that a crescent can’t be sighted during the day, but I’m not sure), and if so, would that sighting be taken to herald the start of the new month for the next day?

*Update 2: A useful site, for me anyway, or for anyone living in Florida and who could reasonably follow the Caribbean for any moon sightings, a useful site for determining the distance between two locations is www.timeanddate.com, click on “Distance Calculator” under the heading of “Other Planning Tools”. This is for those of you, like myself, who follow a sighting as long as it’s within around 4,000 miles or so (some sites I’ve seen have read 3 or 4,000 miles). And many locations in the Caribbean, per my location in Florida, are surprisingly close, even closer than many locations in the US, and many of them are east (well southeast actually) of Florida, so this would also be good for anyone following the “easterly sighting” rule.

*Update 3: According to MoonSighting.com’s Shawwal page (linked above), the moon was sighted in Guyana (which per www.timeanddate.com would be close enough for me to follow given the criteria that I’ve been taught is sufficient to follow regarding which moon sighting reports to follow), thus, Alhamdulillah, I will be celebrating Eid with my local masjid, and doing so without any doubt as to whether or not it’s the “wrong day”. And perhaps this is why I’ve had such a good Ramadan, because I was able to celebrate it with my community, I wasn’t the oddball, the odd one out, the only one different (even in my own house), and that really felt great! Alhamdulillah. So anyway, the Hilal Committee of Toronto and the Chicago Hilal Committee have both declared Eid to be tomorrow, although the Chicago Hilal Committee doesn’t give very many details as to how the sightings in the US have been authenticated. Crescentwatch.org has not as of yet declared anything except to say that they’ll have an announcement up at 8:30 PM PST. So that is what we know so far. Alhamdulillah and Eid Mubarak for those celebrating tomorrow and really Eid Mubarak to everyone!

*Update 4: Both CrescentWatch.org and HilalSighting.com have Ramadan going 30 days and Eid-ul-Fitr on Monday 09/21/2009. Although ChicagoHilal.com differs and has Eid-ul-Fitr as tomorrow 09/20/2009, and they stated that they were able to authenticate sightings in the Northeast of the US and the South. IslamicMoon.com has not updated since 09/16/2009.

So there you have it, it seems that most of the US is going with a 09/20/2009 Eid, Inshallah. I don’t think I’ll be updating anymore tonight. It will be interesting to see how the “moon sighting pontificators” react to the Chicago Hilal Committee declaring a Sunday Eid. Especially when a sighting in mainland North America was pretty much ruled out by the visibility charts, etc. Allahu Alim. And Eid Mubarak again. And now off to try to get to bed.

The Waning Days of Ramadan / Final Thoughts on Kids in the Masjid / More Thoughts on Moon Sighting or “When is Eid?”

Assalamu alaikum, firstly wanted to say that there is/was a discussion going on regarding this issue, and I just wanted to touch on a few things, as regards my own community.

Firstly, we just moved into our new masjid. So it’s to be expected, I think, that there are going to be a few kinks in the system until we all get settled in and comfortable. Secondly, aside from a few really minor annoyances that I’ve already alluded to in previous posts, all told, I’m sure it could have been a lot worse. And I really think that the sisters (and brothers too I think) are trying to make children and families welcome while at the same time dealing with children/people who are misbehaving. Thirdly, they’ve finally fixed the PA system in the masjid, so now, even if the little toddler keeps opening and closing the door connecting the men’s and the women’s sections (because to them it’s probably the coolest thing they’ve ever seen lol), we can still hear what is going on, and for me, this was the majority of the problem I was having. Now that I can actually hear what’s going on, kids running around or in front of me doesn’t really bother me that much, although they probably shouldn’t be doing that, but at least I can hear what’s going on. My point is that I probably made things seem a whole lot worse (and before this month I have experienced worse), but as of this Ramadan, Mashallah, it really hasn’t been that bad. In fact, I’ve probably had the best Ramadan (except for being sick lol) that I’ve had in a while! I’ve gone to the masjid more in the last month than probably in the last almost three years that I’ve been in Florida, and it’s done wonders for me! I’ve finally gotten to meet a lot of the sisters here and it’s wonderful! And getting up with your husband to go to the masjid for Qiyam prayers at 3:30 AM, well, it’s kind of been a bonding experience lol. We also were at the masjid all night Wednesday night into Thursday morning for what ostensibly was for Laylatul Qadr, although it may not have necessarily been on that night, Allahu Alim. And this was something I’d never done before, so I didn’t have the presence of mind to ask for Thursday off (though lol I sure was thinking about the Eid). And I thought I would have slept a little at the masjid but I didn’t. So I’d been up all night, had returned home after Fajr prayers, and had time to get only a couple hours’ sleep before starting work, which Alhamdulillah I was working from home, so that made things ever so much easier.

Anyway, I probably shouldn’t admit to this but I don’t have much experience praying Qiyam or Tahajjud prayers, I have just never had the self-discipline for it, however, having done it now, I can say for myself that there is a, I’m not sure how to explain it, but there is a spiritual awareness, or a heightened spiritual sensitivity or something, that I find that you have during the last few hours of the night, that is not the same as praying during the day. I’m not sure if having slept than gotten up to pray causes this, or what it is. But praying in the middle of the night, with nothing but the sound of the crickets and other night noises is, well, awe-inspiring. And this is something, getting up for tahajjud prayers, that I’d like to continue after Ramadan is over.

And now that I’ve discussed “kids in the masjid”, I’ll move on to another topic that us Muslims never seem to tire of and that is moon/hilal sighting (or is it fighting?). And I’m once again moving on to this because of the below quote I saw when visiting IslamicMoon.com. And I’m going to take it piece by piece, as if I were reading to it and reacting to it while reading.

<blockquote>

STOP, LOOK and LISTEN

Eid on Sunday?

Muslims Miss Last Day of Ramadan?
</blockquote>

Here we go on this again! “Muslims are doing it on the wrong day”, “Muslims are missing the last day of Ramadan”, which if you have read any of this site recently, they’ve all but told Muslims that if they fast on what this site has determined is the “wrong” day, then not only have they fasted on the “wrong” day, or celebrated Eid on the “wrong day” but they owe expiation of fasting 60 days, even telling readers to “ask your local imam to clarify this point for you”. Well, IMHO, there is a huge difference between deliberately not fasting, like “hey I’m not going to fast today ’cause I don’t want to”, and following one’s local masjid who has determined that Eid is on a particular day. And it’s one thing if the masjid is using a pre-determined calculation (which I’d not follow myself), or an actual sighting, even if it’s “global”. Telling people that they’re fasting on the wrong days, and telling them that if they celebrate the Eid with their local communities on what this site considers to be the wrong day that they owe a 60 day expiation fast, that is just soemthing I can’t agree to! And telling people to ask their imam about it? Asking an imam what to do if they deliberately miss a Ramadan fast, is not the same question as asking your imam if you miss a day of Ramadan fast (according to one website and one opinion), because your local masjid is celebrating Eid a day before this particular site says it should be? Methinks you’ll get two completely different answers to this question in most cases. And instead of telling people that they’re doing it on the “wrong day” and leaving all of the doubt and confusion that you’ve just caused for them to sort out by “going and asking their imam”, thereby probably leading to more doubt and confusion, especially if said imam says “it’s the Sunnah for the community to be united so you should follow the community”, or something to that affect, why not consult actual scholars on this issue? is this site actually run by scholars? Or is it the same as moonsighting.com, run by astronomers only who each have their own opinions/agenda?

<blockquote>

Shawwal moon will not be seen in USA and Canada on Sat. Sep. 19, 2009. But many Muslims might celebrate Eid on Sunday, the last day of Ramadan because ISNA has asked them to do so.
</blockquote>

The last day of Ramadan according to who? There are two (broadly) different opinions regarding actual moon sighting (and not calculations), that one sighting determines the start of the month for the whole Ummah, and/or that each locality/region should determine their own sighting.

Not only this, I think that moonsighting.com’s visibility calculations are a bit different because they have the southern US and Caribbean, I think, in the “very difficult to see” category. So I’m starting to think that all of these astronomers don’t really know for sure when the moon is going to be seen, they can forcast and pontificate all they want but at the end of the day, it may be that a moon will be seen on Saturday night, when they didn’t think it would be, and it may be that they think a moon is “certain” to be seen, and the moon watchers won’t see it.

<blockquote>

Eid by Shawwal Hilal

Only the Lunar visibility affirmed the Islamic dates and Islamic months for the last 1430 years.
The Quran (55:5) revealed to the Prophet (SAW) that the sun and the moon are always on a computed course. But he Prophet (SAW) did not adopt Jewish calendar. Instead, he asked Muslims to begin Ramadan and Shawwal when they see a Hilal, never before.

1. Quran: (2:182-189) obligates fasting of Ayyaam-an madudaat during Shahr-u Ramadaan.
2. Quran: (2:189) makes Ahilla the Mawaqeet (including for Ayyaam of Hajj).
3. The Messenger (SAW) fixed the Shahr by: Suumu waftiruu li-ruyatihi
4. All Fuqaha used the Ahilla to fix the first of Islamic dates and beginning of months.
5. The Messenger (SAW) confirmed the fact that a lunar month is 29 or 30 days long only.

The Jews in Medina began their month by calculated New Moon. But the Prophet looked for Ahilla at the sunset, and began the Islamic month after a Hilal in seen Medina. If a Hilal was not seen for any reason then 30 days of the current month were completed.

No Need to See Hilal?

ISNA Fiqh Council, on the authority of Dr. Zulfiqars arguments changed the Meeqaat of the Shahr from the Quranic Ahilla to astronomically calculated New Moon because its Hisaab is Qatai Is this enough to abandon the Quran, the Sunnah, consensus of the Fuqaha and Taamul of the Ummah? Does ISNA Fiqh Council know that Qatai astronomical month are 27 ½ to 29 ½ days long?

ISNA abandons the Quran and Sunnah of moonsighting. Should the Muslims also follow ISNA?

</blockquote>

Again, a lot of this “jargon” I don’t understand, but I find it convenient that this site would bring “the Jews” into it, as if by doing so, Muslims are going to say “oh my gosh, the evil Jews are doing it so we can’t do it either!”. It just seems to me that they are using “what the Jews did” to strengthen their argument against ISNA’s decision/criteria, and IMHO, this is completely unnecessary! Again, we all know that the Prophet (PBUH) sighted the moon and did not use a calculated calendar, the question then becomes how far away from a sighting do you have to be before you follow or don’t follow said sighting, and if there is any position within Islamic jurisprudence, that allowed for such a thing as predetermining the start/end of Islamic months?

I’d like to think that given the confusion and the myriad “moon sighting” opinions out there, not to mention what their local government/ruler might declare, regarding this issue, that no Muslim should be told that if they celebrate Eid on Sunday, or any day, that they owe an expiation for it, and that Inshallah, it won’t be on the individual Muslim to be held accountable, but the responsibility will be on those who made the decision.

There’s just too much confusion and variance of opinion regarding the issue for individual Muslims to be expected to be held accountable to the extent that you’re going to tell them that they owe an expiation if they start/end a fast on a particular day that not everyone, mind you, considers to be “wrong”.

More on Kids in the Masjid / Family I’tikaaf / More Ramadan Blogging

Assalamu alaikum, Brooke from Rolling Ruminations has another post touching on Safiyyah’s post regarding kids in the masjid, or more specifically in this case, the idea of a family i’tikaaf, and whether or not it is a good idea.

I’m still pondering the “kids in the masjid” thing anyway, as regards my own reaction to it, i.e., is it me? What am I actually reacting to? What exactly bothers me about it, etc. And I think I pretty much can put my finger on why unruly kids in the masjid bother me so much. And I don’t think it’s so much about them so much is it’s about me and my own issues.

Firstly, as I’ve said, I was raised differently, in that when I went out in public I was expected to behave in a certain way. This was not only reenforced at home but at the school for the blind that I attended. And even more so in the latter case, as we were told any time we went on any filed trip that “you’re representing the school so you need to be on your best behavior”. And when my brother and I went out anywhere, I distinctly remember my mother telling us before we even left the house, and reiterating it once we got to wherever it was where we were going that we were not to touch anything in the store, for example, that we weren’t to run around the store, that we were to stay with mom (or dad as the case may be), etc. And we were told this from a very early age, at least as far back as I could remember. So it wasn’t just in a church, as in the example I related in previous posts, but in public in general, and we were taught these things from an early age and just wasn’t expected out of the blue to adhere to these sorts of rules once we got older, or only in a specific place and time.

So that’s part of my issue with the whole thing. The second thing comes down to the fact that if the noise level is really high in the women’s area, for whatever reason, I can’t hear the prayer, and as I’m totally blind, I don’t have the option of seeing what the imam and followers are doing either. It would be like taking a sighted person, covering up their ears and eyes, and expecting them to be able to follow the movements of the prayer. And if you’re not used to doing this (as in the case of someone who is both deaf and blind), then it can be a bit distracting and disconcerting. I’ve had instances where sisters would have to tug at my sleeve to let me know when to go into ruku or sujud. And nothing says “I’m a convert and have no idea what I’m doing” than having no idea when to change positions during prayer, even if it is because you can’t hear what’s going on.

So in short, the issue for me is just the way I was raised and even more importantly the fact that if I can’t hear what’s going on, it totally cuts me off from the prayer, and I just feel very self-conscious and like an idiot. This doesn’t mean, though, as I’ve said, that kids should be banned from the masjid, I just think they should be accommodated for, and as long as I can hear the prayer and the recitation of the imam, then a little chatter (and even a bit of running around) from the kids, I can handle. I can even overlook the chatter of the women while the imam is talking, so long as I can hear what he’s saying.

The Last Ten Days / Qiyam al Lail / Laylatul Qadr

Assalamu alaikum, since the night of the 21st (which corresponds to the 11st of September i.e., Thursday night into Friday morning) of Ramadan, we have been having Qiyam prayers in the masjid starting at around 3:30 or so, in the morning. This is, I think, for those doing Itikaf and also on the odd nights in anticipation of Laylatul Qadr. My husband and I have been going since they started this, though I’m probably not oging to go tomorrow morning as I have to go work in the office tomorrow, and I need to make sure I get enough sleep. What I’ll probably do is go on Tuesday morning, which corresponds to the 25th day of Ramadan and go Wednesday night into Thursday which corresponds to the 27th day and so on, basicly going on the odd nights, and do my qiyam prayers at home the rest of the nights. But I have to try and balance work with my desire to make the most of these last few days of Ramadan, which is not always an easy thing to do, especially wen I’m still trying to get over this cold stuff I’ve had the past couple of weeks.

All told, though, I think I’ve had a pretty good month, Alhamdulillah. I have felt spiritually rejuvenated, and I really have felt like I’ve gotten a lot out of this month, which is more than I can say for some of my past Ramadans, the few times I’ve felt unaccomplished this month notwithstanding. And going to Qiyam with my husband I think has also been a good thing, there is just nothing like helping your spouse strive to worship and please Allah that brings you closer together.

Interesting, though, that when we were stepping out of the house on Saturday morning to go to the masjid, the people down the street from us sounded like they were having a party, and how this morning, when we left the house, it sounded like no one was even up. That here we were foregoing sleep and other “dunya things” to go to the masjid to pray and worship Allah. And the people down the street were either partying or sleeping. Somehow that had a more profound effect on me than I’m able to express now, and maybe that is what happens when you have slept for 2 or 3 hours and then get up in the middle of the night specifically for the pleasure of Allah. Perhaps there is some sort of heightened spiritual awareness that you lose once the day starts, and perhaps that is why night prayer is recommended so much. Allah knows best, I’m just reflecting/thinking.

Kids In the Masjid – More Ramadan Blogging

Assalamu alaikum, I’d been trying to decide whether or not I should blog about this but I’ve seen two posts (here and here) with in the past few days regarding this issue, so I decided to weigh in too. However, I blog with some reticence and hesitancy because, aside from my step daughter, I do not have any kids, and I also know I can be impatient, so I’m sure my feelings/reaction is colored by those facts.

Firstly, I’m not against kids being in the masjid, however, misbehaving kids, i.e., kids running through the prayer lines, in front of the prayer lines screaming “sorry!” as they go, is just not cool! It’s one thing if it’s a toddler but when you’re talking about school-aged kids, well, they should know better, I’d think. And I’ll relate a story that I’ve probably related numerous times in the past few days when discussing this issue with others…

I converted to Islam 9 years ago (Alhamdulillah) now. When I was a child, although my parents themselves were not particuarly religious, I’d occasionally go to church with my babysitter if she had me on Sunday, or I’d go to church when I visited my aunt in the summers. And I’ll tell you, if I misbehaved in church, I’d hear about it from someone, whether it be from someone in the church, my babysitter, family member or someone! But I just knew from a very early age, that when you went to church, you had to be quiet, or behave in Sunday school, or whatever the case was/is. And any younger children, say 3 and under, were kept in the nursery while church was going on.

To be in the masjid and see kids running through the prayer areas, having wrestling matches, playing “red light green light”, etc., just goes against everything that I was ever taught about respecting a place of worship. It’s one thing to have a play area set aside for the kids, but otherwise, to me, the masjid is not a playground. And it’s not a social club either (although this is not to say that people shouldn’t talk or otherwise socialize, etc.), I’m just saying, when prayer is in progress or the imam is giving a talk, things should be as quiet as possible. If women are talking all up and through the imam’s talk, how can we expect the kids to mind?

And as I said, I’m really trying to tread carefully regarding this issue, because I don’t have kids, and I know that I’m wont to be impatient and get frustrated over really small things. And I’m really trying to treat this as a test from Allah, and to keep reminding myself of why I’m at the masjid in the first place, and do my best to ignore the distractions around me, and not make it about me being distracted during the prayer because of kids chasing each other around, in front of and through the prayer lines or frustrated that I can’t hear what the imam is saying because there’s a gaggle of chatting women and kids.

When reading the other two posts I linked above, someone brought up the Prophet praying even with a child on his back, and yes I get it, and I understand, and agree wholeheartedly, women and kids should definitely be encouraged to come to the masjid. However, this also shouldn’t give carte blanche for women and kids to come to the masjid and act a complete fool either! Especially when you’re talking about kids who should be old enough to know better. As I said, it’s one thing if you’re talking about a 2 or 3 year old or younger, but kids who really should be starting to pray anyway, for me that’s a different story.

I’m not sure why masjids, if they have the room, couldn’t have some sort of nursery or play area set up, and a few women to watch the kids. I mean, Tarawih is not obligatory and perhaps women could trade off, from one night to the next, as to who will watch the kids, thus giving all the women a chance to attend the tarawih at least a few times during the month. Now if there’s not enough room in the masjid to set up such a separate area for the kids, then I’m at a loss. This might be one of the few times I’d suggest perhaps not coming to the masjid, and the same if your kid is just a terror and is going to cause problems no matter where they go *smile*.

The thing is, what bothers me about the behavior of some of the women and kids in the masjid is that it just plays into why many men want to keep us from the masjid in the first place, i.e., that we can’t behave ourselves and we distract from the main reason for why we are in the masjid in the first place, i.e. to worship Allah. So the least we could all do as women is to behave our own selves and teach our kids, from an early age, to behave too.

Laylat al-Qadr – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

FromWikipedia.

Which perhaps should be taken with a grainof salt but anted to find something that non-Muslims could understand. Any other good articles regaridng this topic would be greatly apreciated. Thanks / Jazak Allah.

Interesting email in my Inbox.

Assalamu alaikum, this is actually the second copy of it… I think it’s spam, has anyone else gotten anything like this? And a dead giveaway as to the veracity (or lack thereof) of the email was that I was referred to as a “brother” when I’m clearly, uh, not, if the person sending the email actually knew me. Also, this is the second such email that I’ve received, the first coming from a “Dwight Graham”. Interesting that the email is purportedly from a Muslim, addressing Muslims, but the emails are coming with non-Muslim names in the “from” headers, not that that means anything but… And it’s only after you open up the email that you actually get a Muslim name.

—– Original Message —– From: barbie .
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 2:51 PM
Subject: Assalamu alaikum

My brother in Islam who may Allah guard and protect. I praise Allah for there is no god but Him. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon Muhammad, who was sent as a mercy to all of humanity, upon his family, companions and on all those who hold fast to the Shariah until the Day of Judgement.
May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you when you travel with a proper intention and a noble purpose, and when you return with a sound endeavor and to a dedicated cause.
May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you as you serve Islam with the finest fruits of science and the best of knowledge,
My name is ibrahim abdul bello from the northern part of Nigeria.We need the help of our brothers and sisters around the world over most of our men have been killed,our homes burnt,our cattles killed,our farmland, everything destroyed through military force by the Governmaent. Our wives and children are homeless and dying of hunger for no just cause.
Below is link to more details:
http://www.newstimeafrica.com/search/northern+crises
http://www.newstimeafrica.com/archives/1397

Please we need Financial Aid and let us know if you have recieve this letter and your prompt response.
May Allah continue to guard and protect you.
Assalamu alaikum,
ibrahim abdul bello

That Was Just What I Needed / More Ramadan Blogging

Assalamu alaikum, I attended the masjid last night for Iftar and Tarawih, which was the first time I’d done this since when I wasn’t able to fast, which was during the first few days of Ramadan. I’d been to the masjid for the iftars last week, after I’d been sick, but as I’d not been quite over this cold thing I just didn’t feel up to staying. And in short, staying for Tarawih, as opposed to going home right after the Iftar, was really just what I neded spiritually, and socially, too, as it’s turning out.

I’ve been trying to remember if I even went to Tarawih last year, and I don’t think I did, because I can’t even remember who was reciting the Qur’an that year, and a lot of the sisters that I’m seeing at the masjid on a regular basis, I don’t remember most of them either. Although it’s also true that I didn’t go to the old masjid very much either. Our old masjid is a converted house, and it was/is very crowded, especially in the women’s area, and if you get more than a few sisters there with the kids, well, it quickly becomes very crowded and uncomfortable, and I start feeling very claustrophobic. Which is why, up until we moved into our new masjid, I didn’t go there very much. In fact, I think that I’ve probably been to the new masjid more in the month or so that it’s been opened than in the whole three years that I’ve been down here in this part of Florida.

Now, it’s as though I can’t get enough of it lol. I can go into the reception area, I guess it’s called, they have folding tables and chairs that they can set up to serve the food, and then put them away once everyone is done eating, and then go into the separate prayer area to pray. In fact, there isn’t any eating/drinking allowed in the prayer area, Mashallah, though I didn’t know this the first two nights I was there, and only learned of it when I overheard a sister talking to another sister about how it wasn’t allowed to eat or drink in the prayer area and how “it wasn’t fair”, etc., (oops), to which, after I finished eating, I promptly explained to the other sisters that I wasn’t aware that eating and drinking wasn’t allowed, because, well, although there were/are signs alluding to this fact, no one made me aware of them, and as the sisters, Mashallah, just brought me food, I just assumed it was OK. And I mentioned that from that point forward, I’d not eat in the prayer area anymore. I really wish someone would have told me, though, I hate feeling like I’m being treated differently than everyone else, and I don’t want to feel like I’m getting special treatment and/or that I’m being allowed to do things that everyone else doesn’t get to do, ostensibly because I’m blind or something. And speaking of which, I’ve pretty much learned my way around the masjid, or at least, the parts that I’d be most likely to frequent, the only hazards being the kids who’ve not learned to move out of my way, lol, and the shoes piled up in the doorway to the prayer area, although I might make a kind suggestion that as I know there are shelves around, that people really need to pick up their shoes, because it really is a safety hazard.

And of course, the whole “kids in the masjid” thing, well, as I don’t have kids, I’m not sure I really should say anything, however, having kids screaming during the prayer, running back and forth through the prayer area, etc., is extremely distracting! Not to mention at other times when prayer is not going on, having kids running around like the masjid is a playground, though I guess it’s easy for me, the childless one, to expect kids to sit quietly, or play quietly, and behave, and not have races, wrestling matches, etc., going on. So I really want to be careful how I approach this issue. I mean, it’s easy for me to say that kids should act in a certain way, or that someone, anyone, even if it’s not the actual parents, should be keeping an eye on the kids, just so they don’t end up in unoccupied parts of the masjid and end up getting hurt or breaking something, but then someone would say “well you don’t have kids, you don’t know”. And yes, kids will be kids, but I just can’t get the “church mentality” out of my head. That when you went to church, even if your parents weren’t there, even if your parents weren’t particularly religious, that you behaved yourself, even if you weren’t listening to a sermon, even if it was just a church supper. Because if you didn’t, either you’d be disciplined right there by whoever saw you misbehaving, or you’d be disciplined at home once your parents found out, or both.

So when I’m in the masjid, and kids are having a roaring game of “Red light, Green light” going on, while the prayer is going on, and/or kids are yelling, screaming, etc., and you can barely hear the recitation of the Qur’an, or the “Allahu Akbar” that tells you it’s time to change positions in the prayer, there is something within my very being that wants to grab them, make them sit down and behave themselves. Because I tell you, if I’d have pulled anything like that as a child, someone most assuredly would have done that to me.

But anyway, as I said, I hesitate in even broaching this issue because firstly, I don’t have any kids, and secondly, maybe I’m looking at the masjid all wrong or something. Maybe it’s me who’s got the problem, I mean, I know I can be very impatient with people, kids and adults alike. So I really don’t like to let this sorta thing get to me, because maybe it’s not “everyone else” who’s got the problem, lol. And in any case, it’s not dampened my current enjoyment of the masjid in any significant way. In fact, as I said, I really needed this, as it’s seemed to jolt me back into some sort of spiritual rhythm again. And because I’ve been coming to the masjid more, I’ve been getting to know some of the sisters too, and this really can’t be a bad thing. I’m starting to wonder how many of the “boundaries” in my life were real ones, and how many were ones I’d set up myself, and that is another post for another day.

Why I Went to LiveJournal and Why I’m Considering Going Back to WordPress

Assalamu alaikum, someone asked me last week why I moved to LiveJournal and stopped using WordPress. Well, at the time, which was merely a few months ago, LiveJournal had more posting options, namely, that one could post by email (something that WordPress didn’t have at the time) as well as voiceposting (by phone).

However, shortly after that, it seems that WordPress also came up with an option to post via email, and the sound quality of LiveJournal’s voiceposting feature, while a neat feature to have if you’re on the go, really does leave something to be desired.

At the time, though, I also liked LiveJournal’s “community-driven” features, that you could have a lot of “liveJournal friends” and read their posts, as well as yours, it seemed that LiveJournal was not just a blogging platform but a social network as well, and I thought that was kinda neat.

However, it doesn’t seem as though you can trackback from others who are linking your posts as easily with LiveJournal, and a lot of people who are commenting on your blog who don’t have a LiveJournal account don’t seem to like the commenting feature either. In short, LiveJournal seems to be for those who have LiveJournal blogs/journals for themselves and their friends, which is good, if you have a lot of LiveJournal friends, or if you have posts that you want to only share with a select few people. But for me, I’m kind of an all or nothing person, either I want everyone to see my posts or no one to see them, and in the case I only want a few to see them, well, I guess that’s what WordPress passwords are for. I mean, sometimes I want people to see my posts even if they’re not my LiveJournal friends. In short, LiveJournal can be limited in that respect, as to who gets to see your posts, and it almost makes people have to have a LiveJournal account if they want to view any of your protected entries.

Really, there are features that I like with both LiveJournal and WordPress, but one thing I do miss about LiveJournal, that I’ve just rediscovered with WordPress, is the stats feature for WordPress which Livejournal simply doesn’t have on its own. Already, since I’ve moved back to WordPress, I’ve been able to tell who’s coming to the blog, where they’re coming from (i.e. what sites), any search terms they’re using, how many people have viewed the blog today, and how many people are viewing a particular post. And do you know I’m still getting hits on my Akon rant from about a year and a half (or was it longer?) ago? *shudders*

As far as my domain name goes, it’s still pointing to my LiveJournal blog, and as I have more than one blog that I’d like to update regularly, I’m not sure if I’ll change that as of now. With me being linked to Twitter, Facebook, etc., people really shouldn’t have any trouble finding me.

The thing is, I’m sure I’ll find something to do with my LiveJournal blog, as well as the other blogs that I have, so I’m not going to get rid of it. I just think if I want to reach more people, and make it easier for them to reach me and comment, WordPress might just be the better way to go.

Praising Yahya Jammeh for the “Pardoning” of the Six Convicted Journalists

Assalamu alaikum, I’ve recently, for reasons that I’ve talked about before, taken a step back from commenting on anything relating to Gambian politics. However, on the recent “pardoning” of the also recently convicted six Gambian journalists by Yahya Jammeh, I really feel compelled to say something! And basicly that is… Why should anyone be thanking him, or giving him any kind of accalades, for “pardoning” these people, when they never should have even been charged, taken to court, tried, and convicted in the very first place? I mention this because my husband said that there was an article in The Point newspaper where they were, according to him, praising Yahya Jammeh for releasing the six convicted journalists. This is the same paper, need I remind everyone, whose editor was murdered a few years ago now, and whose associate editor, Pap Saine, was among the journalists arrested and convicted. And yet, if it is true that they have published an article praising Yahya Jammeh, the question I have is why? (And I’ve not had the stomach to go and look at said article).

It just seems interesting that people would be praising him for “doing the right thing”, when he was behind the draconian laws that were “passed”, er I mean, “rubber-stamped” by the so-called Parliament of The Gambia, which in turn made it possible for these journalists to even have the charges brought against them to begin with. So yes, he may have the “authority” under the Constitution to pardon them, however, to pardon someone because they were found guilty under laws you yourself, even if indirectly, brought about, and then to expect people to accord you some kind of “goodwill status”… That’s just wrong. And to use the month of Ramadan as an excuse?

I don’t know if it was international pressure, or just Jammeh’s whimsical mind that brought this about, however, it’s a good thing and Alhamdulillah that these six journalists are released and now back home to spend the balance of Ramadan with their families. But as we are all happy and celebrating this latest development, let’s just not get too carried away over it, and start thanking and praising someone who deserves neither thanks nor praise! Let’s not forget that these journalists never should have been in prison for Jammeh to “pardon” in the first place. They never should have had charges brought against them, they never should have been dragged to court, they never should have been found guilty, and they never should have been imprisoned, for Jammeh to even be in a position to bestow his so-called “Ramadan gift” to them. Because if they were in a real democracy, with real press freedom, then they’d be allowed to print their stories and report the facts, however in The Gambia, it seems, anything, fact or not, that is deemed a threat to state security, or any other kind of flimsy excuse, will land you in jail or worse. And it’s been proven time and again, that praising Jammeh, coddling him, writing glowing editorials about him, etc., will get you nowhere, because he’ll befriend you one minute and have you detained or worse the next.

Up Too Late / More Ramadan Blogging

Assalamu alaikum, yep, it’s almost 3 in the morning and I’m the only one up. Just wanted to take this time to do some Ramadan blogging and test the newly-discovered (and I think new) post by email feature on WordPress (which is another reason I’m thinking of coming back to word Press).

Anyway…

So, my Ramadan has sorta ground to a halt spiritually. I’m fasting, but after not being able to fast for a few days, and then being able to fast yet being sick, well, it’s just kinda hard to get back into the nice rhythm I’d been in before. This cold, or whatever I have had has taken a lot out of me, and now, I feel fine but I’m tired. I’ve lost my voice and trying to talk to people is just exhausting, not to mention the coughing I’ve been doing.

I’m just tired, and truthfully speaking, I’m finding it really difficult to get through the day. And now, to top it off, my sleeping schedule is officially messed up, as evidenced by the fact that I’m up at almost 3 in the morning. And I have one day, well, I have by tomorrow night to get it back in order, and how I’m going to do that, next to just plain not sleeping between now and tomorrow night, I don’t know at the moment.

The best I can think would be to perhaps lay down until Fajr, get up, pray fajr and then maybe sleep until 8 or 9 or maybe 10 or so, at least try to get up before noon, and not go back to sleep again until tomorrow night. And then hope I can be in bed and asleep before 11 or 12. But under no circumstances staying up past midnight.

Ugh… I hate it when my sleeping schedule gets like this.

So anyway… Inshallah, I get over whatever this is I have and I can get my sleeping schedule back into some kind of semblance of normalcy, and can also get back into a good spiritual rhythm.

I guess the positive way to look at this would be that I get to have a decent suhoor lol, as if I’d been asleep and gotten up closer to Fajr, then I’d not be able to eat anything, or to eat very little, as my stomach usually can’t handle too much food so early in the morning, or so soon after getting up, as the case may be. So hey, in every dark cloud there is a silver lining I guess lol.